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Archer

English
"bowman"
Grace Royal
By Grace Royal
Updated Tue Sep 30 2025

Archer Origin and Meaning

The name Archer is a boy's name of English origin meaning "bowman".

Archer is an Anglo-Saxon surname that feels more modern than most because of its on-target occupational and Hunger Games associations. And it's a nice way to bypass the clunky Archibald to get to the cool nickname Archie.

But have a look at that amazing popularity chart below: After 1889, Archer took a 130-year nap, resurfacing on the Top 1000 in 2009 and now shooting straight upwards. Five years ago, we named Archer one of our Hottest Names of 2011—and, indeed, it jumped 102 places that year, thanks in part to Archer's similarity to popular Asher and its cross-gender appeal. Moms may like its literary gentility and dads its tough-guy FX cartoon appeal. Or, of course, vice versa.

Trivia tidbit: Archer is the name of Dr. Doolittle's father.

# 115 in the US

Archer Rank in US Top 1000

# 77 on Nameberry

Archer Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Archer

20 Names Similar to Archer

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Famous People Named Archer

  • Archer Ernest Baldwin
    English MP
  • Archer Kent Blood
    American diplomat
  • Archer John Porter Martin
    English chemist; winner of the Nobel Prize
  • Archer Alexander
    model for the slave in the Emancipation Memorial located in Lincoln Park, Washington, DC, USA
  • Archer Milton Huntington
    American historian and philanthropist
  • Archer King
    American actor, agent and producer
  • Archibald Paul "Archer" MacMackin
    American silent film director and writer
  • Archer James Oliver
    British portrait painter
  • Archer Prewitt
    American cartoonist and musician of The Sea and Cake
  • Archer Sage
    son of blogger Rebecca Woolf
  • Archer Jones Sebastian (b. 2012)
    son of singer Guy Sebastian and Jules Egan
  • Archer Grason Ewing (b. 2014)
    son of actor Dan Ewing
  • Archer Robert Seddon (b. 2015)
    son of broadcaster Sally Bowrey and Richard Seddon

The name Archer in Pop Culture

  • Archer Cross
    character in Rachel Hawkins's Hex Hall series
  • Archer
    character in the Fire series by Kristin Cashore
  • Archer Montgomery
    Addison's brother on TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice"
  • Archer Finn
    character in Sarah J. Maas's "Crown of Midnight"
  • Archer Hale
    character in Mia Sheridan's book "Archer's Voice"
  • Archer Evermonde
    character in J.K. Rowling's "The Potter Family"
  • Archer
    Team Rocket Executive in the video games Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver
  • "Archer
    " animated TV series about main character Sterling Malory Archer
  • Newland Archer
    main character in Edith Wharton's "Age of Innocence"
  • Jonathan Archer
    character in the Star Trek series
  • "The Archers
    " British radio soap
  • Archers
    brand of schnapps

The name Archer in Nameberry Blog Posts